China has held sea and air combat drills at disputed Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited area of reefs and rocks it had seized from the Philippines in the South China Sea.

China declared its maritime baselines around Scarborough Shoal after the Philippines passed laws defining its maritime zones and sea lanes last week.

The ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China conducted intensive sea and air combat drills near the contentious Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday. This area—an expanse of reefs and rocks west of the Philippines’ Luzon Island—has been a persistent flashpoint in China-Philippines relations since China seized control of the shoal in 2012.

China on Sunday said it delimited the baselines of the territorial sea adjacent to Scarborough Shoal — which it calls Huangyan Dao — saying it’s a “natural step” to lawfully strengthen marine management. In response, Manila’s National Maritime ...

The Philippines government on Tuesday protested against Chinese escalations over the South China Sea, announcing baselines around the disputed Scarborough Shoal

The Philippines has protested China’s baselines around the disputed Scarborough Shoal, as tensions between the two nations build up anew over their competing claims in the South China Sea.